At this year's CES, Sony has unveiled a follow up to the electric car it revealed at the same event two years ago. The new prototype is an SUV that the company is calling Vision-S 02. Sony took the sedan's EV and cloud platforms and put them in a new form factor to create the vehicle, which features a large interior that can seat seven. 

The electric SUV has sensors all over its body, including CMOS image and LiDAR sensors for its driver assistance system. Sony says it's conducting tests in Europe as part of its efforts to release a Level 2+ driver assistance technology on public roads. Inside, there are Time-of-Flight sensors for driver authentication, as well as support for intuitive gesture and voice commands. The vehicle will also have 5G connectivity to enable over-the-air updates and remote operation, which Sony is currently working on with its partners.

While the Vision-S 02 is just a prototype at the moment, Sony has ambitions to become a player in the electric vehicle industry and sell its cars to the public. It will establish an operating company named "Sony Mobility Inc." this spring and will explore entry into the EV market. The company didn't reveal what other steps it's taking to achieve that goal, and it remains to be seen whether it'll truly be able to release its Vision-S vehicles. It's worth noting, however, that Sony has been testing its electric sedan on public roads in Europe since December 2020 and has also started verification tests of the safety and user experience of the vehicle's imaging and sensing technology.

Follow all of the latest news from CES 2022 right here!

Sony has revealed some pertinent details about its next-gen virtual reality headset at CES 2022, starting by confirming its name: PlayStation VR2. The new headset will be compatible with the PS5 and with the new VR2 Sense controllers. It has a display resolution of 2000 x 2040 pixel per eye, has a 110-degree field of view, is capable of 90 to 120Hz frame rates and supports 4K HDR.

The PS VR2 features inside-out tracking, which means it has multiple embedded cameras to track the movements of your head and controllers. Sony has also introduced a new sensory feature for the device called "headset feedback" that can make games and experiences even more immersive. Headset feedback uses a built-in motor with vibrations to simulate in-game events — it can, for instance, mimic the feel of a character's elevated pulse rate while they're hiding from a threat or the feel of objects passing close to a character's head. 

3D audio and eye tracking are a couple of other features that create immersion. The headset can detect the motion of your eyes, allowing you to interact with the game environment like you'd interact with the real world. As for the PS VR2 Sense controllers, they'll have key features from the DualSense controllers, particularly haptic feedback and adaptive triggers. While Sony has yet to reveal the headset's availability, the company announced one of the first games arriving on the platform. Horizon Call of the Mountain, a VR experience in the Horizon universe, is apparently being built for the PS VR2 and will be an exclusive title for the platform.

Follow all of the latest news from CES 2022 right here!

TCL, which is mostly known for its TVs and other electronics, has launched its very first laptop called the Book 14 Go. It's a 14.1-inch Windows 11 laptop that's powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon chip, with a 12-hour battery life and 4G LTE connectivity. While Snapdragon laptops are traditionally on the pricier side, the Book 14 Go will only set you back $349 when it launches in select regions in the second quarter. 

The company was likely able to keep its price down, in part because it's powered by Qualcomm's affordable Snapdragon 7c platform meant for use with entry-level PCs and Chromebooks. Snapdragon 7c enables both LTE connectivity and lengthy battery life for laptops meant to be always switched on. TCL designed the Book 14 Go to be portable, with a depth of 13.95 mm and a body that weighs 2.9 pounds. 

In addition to its first laptop, TCL has also announced its new NXTPAPER tablet, the 10s. The NXTPAPER 10s features the brand's full color paper-like display technology, which is a low-power reflective LCD that doesn't need backlighting. It has an anti-glare finish that allows you see what's playing from any angle and reduces blue light by over 50 percent. TCL says the display's attributes make looking at the screen more comfortable, thereby making it ideal for studying and for taking notes with its accompanying T Pen stylus. The NXTPAPER 10s will initially be available later this month in Europe and China for $249.

TCL

TCL will also release a pair of budget tablets, the $129 TAB 8 4G and the $99 TAB 10L, in the first quarter. If you're looking for even cheaper tablets for kids, it will release the $89 MINI, $149 MID and $119 MAX tablets in the same quarter for select markets, as well. All new tablets will come with support for the TCL Kids service that's launching in the second quarter to give subscribers access to a child-friendly library of educational and entertainment videos, storybooks and apps for $4 a month. TCL will also roll out Kids service support for the Book 14 Go laptop "soon." 

JBL has expanded its Quantum gaming line with new products, including its first USB microphone aimed at streamers and podcasters. The JBL Quantum Stream is a dual-condenser mic with two selectable voice pickup patterns. One of those patterns gives you a way to make sure the mic focuses on your voice, while the other was designed to capture everyone's voice, in case you're in a group call or recording a podcast with someone. The Quantum Stream also has a mute button and controls that allow you to adjust your voice volume directly on the device itself. It will set you back $100 when it makes its way to JBL's website and to retailers this spring.

The company has also introduced its first true wireless earbuds for the line, the JBL Quantum TWS. They have Adaptive Noise Cancelling and ambient aware features, giving them the capability to automatically adjust how much noise gets in based on your surroundings. They have JBL's QuantumSURROUND feature that enables spatial surround sound, as well, along with support for various voice assistants. The wireless earbuds can connect to a mobile device via Bluetooth, but they also come with a USB-C dongle for low latency connection to PCs, the PlayStation and the Nintendo Switch. When it comes to battery life, the earbuds can last for eight hours, with the charging case providing 16 additional hours. The earbuds will also be available this spring and will sell for $150.

JBL

Finally, JBL has added three new over-ear headsets to the line: the JBL Quantum 910, JBL Quantum 810 and JBL Quantum 610. The Quantum 910 comes with the JBL QuantumSPHERE 360, which is the brand's proprietary head-tracking technology, making it the first wireless device with the feature. Both the Quantum 910 and 810 headsets have Active Noise Cancelling and can connect to consoles, PCs and mobile via 2.4G wireless or Bluetooth. Meanwhile, the 610 only has 2.4G wireless connection, though it has the longest battery life of the three and can last for up to 40 hours. The Quantum 910 will sell for $250, the Quantum 810 for $200 and the Quantum 610 for $150 when they come out this spring.

Follow all of the latest news from CES 2022 right here!

Marjorie Taylor Greene says she also lost access to Facebook, a day after Twitter banned her personal account. Unlike Twitter's suspension, which is permanent, Facebook's penalty will only last for 24 hours. According to The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, NBC News and other sources, Greene shared a screenshot on Telegram and Gettr (a social media platform for conservatives) showing a Facebook notification telling her that can't post or comment on the website for 24 hours. 

A spokesperson has confirmed to the publications that the social network removed one of her posts for violating its policies, but that "removing her account for this violation is beyond the scope of [its] policies." In particular, her post violated the Meta-owned platform's COVID-19 misinformation rules. It's worth noting that Facebook and Twitter have only suspended her personal accounts. Her verified government accounts remain active.

Greene reportedly posted about "extremely high amounts of COVID vaccine deaths" with unverified raw data from the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System, or VAERS. The system is a government database managed by the CDC and the FDA, but it relies on individuals to send in reports of their experience. VAERS' website states that it's "not designed to determine if a vaccine caused a health problem" and that "additional work and evaluation [of its data] is necessary to further assess a possible safety concern." Facebook started taking a tougher stance against misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines and vaccines in general in early 2021.

Greene is known for questioning the public health measures put into place to prevent the further spread of COVID-19. In addition to opposing vaccine mandates, she also famously refuses to wear a mask on the House floor and has racked up tens of thousands of dollars in fines. Talking about her Facebook suspension on Telegram and Gettr, Greene wrote:

"Facebook has joined Twitter in censoring me... Who appointed Twitter and Facebook to be the authorities of information and misinformation? When Big Tech decides what political speech of elected Members is accepted and what’s not then they are working against our government and against the interest of our people."

Conservative politicians have long complained about being censored by the biggest social media platforms. Back in October, former President Donald Trump announced that he's planning to launch his own social network this year as part of his camp's efforts to fight back against "the Big Tech companies of Silicon Valley, which have used their unilateral power to silence opposing voices in America." 

AT&T and Verizon won't start rolling out their C-band 5G service on January 5th after all. The carriers have agreed to comply with a request from the Federal Aviation Administration and the Transportation Department to push back their 5G expansion by two more weeks. Authorities asked the companies for extra time to investigate concerns regarding possible interference with aircraft systems and electronics. 

Both AT&T and Verizon were supposed to to roll out their potentially faster C-band service using newly purchased frequencies back in December, but they held off on the expansion as requested by the Federal Aviation Administration. Airlines and aircraft manufacturers are worried that the new frequencies are too close to those used by airplanes' radar altimeter, which provides data on the distance between the plane and the ground. Interferences could then lead to unsafe landings. Wireless industry giants argue, however, that the C-band service's powers are low enough and that the gap in frequencies is large enough to prevent interference. 

Shortly before the supposed January 5th rollout, the agencies asked the carriers for a delay of two more weeks to look into the issue. They initially rejected the authorities' call for an additional delay, issuing a joint letter that says honoring the request would be to the "detriment" of customers. The carriers tried to negotiate a compromise instead and told authorities that they're open to a six-month pause in deployment near some airports.

It's unclear what changed the companies' minds, but both have agreed to put a pause on their plans for now.

A Verizon spokesperson told Engadget in a statement:

"We've agreed to a two-week delay which promises the certainty of bringing this nation our game-changing 5G network in January, delivered over America’s best and most reliable wireless network."

An AT&T spokesperson sent us a similar response:

"At Secretary Buttigieg's request, we have voluntarily agreed to one additional two-week delay of our deployment of C-Band 5G services. We also remain committed to the six-month protection zone mitigations we outlined in our letter. We know aviation safety and 5G can co-exist and we are confident further collaboration and technical assessment will allay any issues."

New York City has purchased 184 all-electric Mustang Mach-Es, and they're all going to be used for law enforcement and emergency response purposes. As Electrek noted, the move is part of the city's plans to buy over 1,250 electric vehicles in 2022. That, in turn, is part of a larger endeavor to "drastically cut citywide climate emissions" with the help of a $420 million investment. 

In its announcement, the local NYC government said the Mach-Es will be used by the New York Police Department (NYPD), the New York City Sheriff's Office, the Department of Correction, the Department of Parks and Recreation, the Department of Environmental Protection, NYC Emergency Management, DCAS Police and the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. They'll be replacing those agencies' gas-powered vehicles after the city receives them by June 30th, 2022.

NYC also said that its Mach-E purchase is part of its biggest EV purchase to date, though that may not be the case for long. The city has also approved the option to buy up to 250 Tesla Model 3 vehicles any time over the next five years. 

Earlier this month, Ford announced that it's increasing the production of the Mach-E to 200,000 vehicles per year in the US starting in 2022 and in Europe by 2023. Company CEO Jim Farley said there's a huge demand for the electric vehicle, and Ford is reportedly delaying its Explorer and Aviator EVs to ensure that it can manufacture enough Mach-Es to keep up with the demand.

Tumblr has restricted what its users can see on its iOS app in an effort to make sure it doesn't get kicked out of Apple's App Store again. One of the steps it has taken to comply with Apple's guidelines is to limit the results for certain tags or search terms that Tumblr says "may fall under the expanded definition of sensitive content." The website will even completely block some of them — make that more than some, based on this pretty lengthy list of banned and limited terms collected by Tumblr users that TechCrunch posted. 

While the inclusion of specific words in the list is self explanatory, it also has some curious entries, such as "Eugene Levy" and "Tony the Tiger." The restriction will also make it harder to search for content related to mental health, such as PTSD, depression and anxiety, as well as issues like racism and transphobia. Those searching for a blocked tag will get a screen that says "This content has been hidden" instead of a page with results. They'll see the same notification if they try to access a blog that's been flagged as "explicit" on the app. Users may also see fewer suggestions under the "stuff for you" and "following" sections due to the new restrictions. 

Tumblr has implemented these changes three years after it started completely blocking adult content on its platform. If you'll recall, Tumblr prohibited adult content in 2018 after Apple pulled its app from iTunes in response to finding child exploitation photos on the website. The social network said these changes only apply to its iOS app and that they won't affect anyone browsing Tumblr on the web or on Android. A spokesperson also told TechCrunch that the company is "working on more thoughtful solutions which will be rolled out in the near future."

The latest foldable Galaxy devices are a hit. Samsung shipped four times more foldables in 2021 than what it did in 2020, the tech giant has revealed. Further, it took only one month after they were released for the Galaxy Z Fold 3 and the Galaxy Z Flip 3 to exceed the total accumulative sales of their predecessors last year. The company also said that it saw a "massive increase" in consumers who jumped brands specifically for its foldable phones — in fact, more people switched to Samsung for the Flip 3 than for its flagship devices. 

While Samsung didn't rattle off specific numbers, it said it saw a 150 percent increase in consumers who switched brands for the Flip 3 compared to the Galaxy Note 20. It saw a 140 percent increase in people switching brands for the foldable compared to the Galaxy S21, as well. The Flip's form factor is of course its main draw, along with its front screen that gives users a way to use their phone without having to open it. As for the Fold 3, people who responded to Samsung's survey said they got it for its large screen, multitasking capabilities and S Pen support.

In its post, Samsung said foldables are expected to grow tenfold by 2023, and it's heavily investing in research and development to be able to keep up with rival devices that will surely pop up. One of those competitors is Huawei's P50 Pocket phone, which is the company's first model that folds vertically like the Galaxy Z Flip. 

Roku TVs will be able to pair quickly with more audio products in the future. The company has expanded its TV Ready Certification Program, adding Element, JVC, Pheanoo and Philips this year, with Polk Audio and Westinghouse joining the list in 2022. Roku also opened the program internationally, and partners like Bose are expected to launch TV Ready devices in the United Kingdom, Canada and Mexico soon. 

Bose vice president of Product and Experience, Doug Cunningham, said:

"Roku TV Ready makes it easier than ever to set-up and use a Bose TV speaker for an improved audio experience. We are excited to bring this option to more Roku TV owners across the globe."

The TV Ready initiative makes it easy to connect soundbars and speakers to Roku TVs — so long as the audio device supports the feature, it will automatically be detected as soon as you plug it in. Your TV will then turn off its speakers and switch audio output, and you'll be able to control your speaker's/soundbar's volume using the Roku remote. The program launched in 2020, with Sound United (the parent company of Polk, Denon, Marantz, Class A and Boston Acoustics) and TCL as the first official partners.

Roku says the program provides participants with an "easy-to-implement" SDK for fast integration, as well as a wireless soundbar reference design that it launched at CES 2021. TCL released the first model based on the reference, and it of course pairs automatically with a Roku TV.